The subject application is directed to a system and method for image enhancement. More particularly, the subject application is directed to a system and method which uses automatic white balancing to allow for better rendering of images for printing or display after image capture.
Images inherit hue and brightness biases from a light source during image capturing process by an image capturing device, such as a digital camera. Typically, there is an image processing step, known as automatic white balancing, in such image capturing devices to remove or reduce such hue and brightness biases. Automatic white balancing for image capturing adjusts the hue and brightness according to illuminant estimation. Illuminant estimation is the process of determining if the light source is fluorescent, tungsten, incandescent, or day light and can be quite computationally intensive. The hue or brightness biases introduced by the source light are then removed or reduced, typically using the Max-RGB algorithm. In such process, it is assumed that the brightest point in the image should reflect the hue and brightness of the light source. The process involves selecting a white reference point in the image and determining its hue and brightness biases. The entire image is then adjusted to counter the biases such that the white reference point will be fully bright and neutral in color.